Charges Dropped Against Jesse White's Daughter; Brutality Accusations Made

By Shannon in News on Dec 17, 2006 7:20PM

A few days ago on Chicagoist we mentioned that Secretary of State Jesse White's daughter was arrested on drug charges. To flesh out your memories, here's the gist of the incident: Undercover cops performed a sting operation at the Ida B. Wells complex, around Pershing and Cottage Grove, posing as drug dealers. Lorraine White was one of 17 people arrested Thursday morning for allegedly buying drugs from one of the officers.

As it turns out, charges against White, 46, have now been dropped due to her arresting officer not showing up in court on Friday. (Oh, how Chicagoist wishes we were that lucky.) Done deal, no cop, everyone gets to go home, right? Not so fast, says Lorraine. She now alleges that police roughed her up during the arrest. According to White, a male officer shoved her up some stairs and pushed her onto a concrete floor. For her trouble, she received a black eye and six chipped teeth. No formal charges have been filed yet by White or anyone else involved in the operation.

As one might imagine, we have some problems with this whole setup. First thing, what happened to the other 16 people arrested? Did they fly the coop as well? How on earth do you pull off a reasonably large drug sting and not have the cops show up in court the next day? Prosecutors say they will refile charges, but still. Then, White maintains her innocence throughout the proceedings, and that she was at the complex to help a "particular guy" find work. She told ABC that she was trying to continue her (estranged) father's public service, yet she's not employed by the state government. If we didn't know better, it would seem like she's appealing to people under the guise of her father's good works. We have to wonder how the estrangement came about and whether or not drugs were involved.

Image of the Ida B. Wells complex via www.urbandecay.ca.